General Discussion - Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

[ChrisFL]

There's definitely a lot of things it seems they could have done better. It seems like they were rushed to get it open and barely had time to finish everything to sort of get it working yesterday.

I still think opening at this time of year was also a bad idea, though I understand it from a "competition" standpoint.

Also, I don't ever expect new rides, even ones that have been through soft openings, to be flawless when they first open...at any park, which is why I usually avoid it for the first few weeks.

 

[Brian G.]

I mean, I don’t agree with their wording or hyperbole. But there are valid points sprinkled in. That’s all I’m saying. It’s an interesting discussion: Could the opening have been handled differently? For sure.

The only thing I feel that would've helped would be a Soft Opening - but other than that, there was no way to win here.

The GP doesn't understand Virtual Queue - so they'd just complain due to not understanding.

Move the date from June 13, and you'd have complaints.

The SW:GE method worked for customer satisfaction, but that was a whole land, not converging into one ride; but from a business standpoint, it seems Disney wasn't pleased with the lesser crowds. We'll circle back to this in 10 days when SW:GE becomes a free-for-all.

This is what happens during every opening. It happened with Slinky and TSL, it happened with Avatar... Diagon, Hogsmeade, etc. You open up a new major land, or ride - it's going to have these issues.

 

[OLSinFLA]

The only thing I feel that would've helped would be a Soft Opening - but other than that, there was no way to win here.

The GP doesn't understand Virtual Queue - so they'd just complain due to not understanding.

Move the date from June 13, and you'd have complaints.

The SW:GE method worked for customer satisfaction, but that was a whole land, not converging into one ride; but from a business standpoint, it seems Disney wasn't pleased with the lesser crowds. We'll circle back to this in 10 days when SW:GE becomes a free-for-all.

This is what happens during every opening. It happened with Slinky and TSL, it happened with Avatar... Diagon, Hogsmeade, etc. You open up a new major land, or ride - it's going to have these issues.

People forget things... they remember Universal's rides all failed opening day, but for some reason they forget every ride at Epcot also broke down opening day (and almost killed 4 people on Spaceship Earth).

 

[Evan]

People forget things... they remember Universal's rides all failed opening day, but for some reason they forget every ride at Epcot also broke down opening day (and almost killed 4 people on Spaceship Earth).

What happened on SE?! Oh my.

 

[Brian G.]

People forget things... they remember Universal's rides all failed opening day, but for some reason they forget every ride at Epcot also broke down opening day (and almost killed 4 people on Spaceship Earth).

Yup. There are fair critiques to be made, but there's a certain group of people who, for whatever reason, champion any negative and look for reasons of failure, creating an avalanche of nonsense.

 

[devinp267]

No they did the right thing by not doing the return times Obviously hagrid aint ready enough for that. I know delays are can happen at any time but You'd be giving people another reason to complain when they can't ride at their return time. It's best to just old fashioned wait until hagrid is more reliable cuz If you're out there this weekend you planned on doin it anyway.

 

[TommyJK]

I'm genuinely curious how in 2019, with the virtual line being already used in various attractions on property, how anyone can think it wasn't an option for Universal to use yesterday and moving forward? A line through the park and going backstage was really the best course of action?

They have an adapt and capable IT staff on site - who could have had this working given resources. Ops are more than capable to know the THRC with current setup of trains running/factor in possible weather closure to assign a set amount of return tickets.

We really think the system just wasn't ready?

I think this response should be re-stated because it's likely spot on:

... it's understandable not to use the virtual queue yet. If the ride goes down for weather or technical issues then that causes a huge back up for the return times and potentially a bigger headache. I think it's smart to put people in a line and inflate the wait time to account for possible down time. Then try to take care of the guests as much as possible with water, food, entertainment.

 

[Evan]

Yup. There are fair critiques to be made, but there's a certain group of people who, for whatever reason, champion any negative and look for reasons of failure, creating an avalanche of nonsense.

That’s for sure.

I personally really try to find the middle on both sides. From the overly negative to the crazy positive Jesus is coming posts, the truth is often somewhere between. It’s been prevalent with SWGE and now HMCMBA.

There is a place for critical thinking/critique and praise. In the end theme park fans are still winning majorly.

 

[Imperius]

Didn’t flight of passage have 6 hr waits on opening? So hagrids isn’t that much different when dealing with weather delays also. Unless Disney does a reservation system for SWGE in Orlando we will have similar issues that opening too. It’s 2019, everyone wants to be first and post it online.

 

[Scott W.]

I’m guessing the scale should go from Jurassic Park to Galaxy’s Edge.

This is some where in the middle.

 

[Jwhee]

I think the ride is awesome, at least from what I saw.

The way the park handled today is absolutely horrible. God awful. Plenty of people are wasting their entire day stuck in a queue just to eventually get on a ride that doesn’t work.

Every year we keep feeling sorry for them and saying things like “new rides have kinks to work out” and things like that.

Enough is enough. These people have been opening rides for 25+ years now at UO. It is insane that they put guests through such terrible experiences because they can’t figure out how to properly schedule a ride opening. Really is brutal. I feel bad for the people still in that queue. They’re better off leaving.

 

[Tyc00n96]

Im gonna be at the park in two weeks time to ride it. Do we think lines of 4-5 hrs + will still be in the park by then?

 

[RE133]

And CNBC is obviously owned by Comcast, so it seems like that’s the number Universal wants out there.

I'm still doubting this number. CNBC's article has no sourcing and also says "Representatives for Universal did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment." From what I've seen, that number can be traced back to a Tampa Bay Times article that quotes a theme park "expert" giving an estimate. And even that appears to be a misquote.

I just cannot fathom how they could have spent the equivalent of 2-3 Expedition Everests (adjusted for inflation) to create this. Especially considering Disney notoriously overspends compared to Universal.

Sorry, to harp on about this. I'm a bit of geek for this kind of stuff :grin:

 

[ChrisFL]

(and almost killed 4 people on Spaceship Earth).

Wait what?

I never heard that story (and my father worked at Epcot on opening day)

 

[devinp267]

I think the ride is awesome, at least from what I saw.

The way the park handled today is absolutely horrible. God awful. Plenty of people are wasting their entire day stuck in a queue just to eventually get on a ride that doesn’t work.

Every year we keep feeling sorry for them and saying things like “new rides have kinks to work out” and things like that.

Enough is enough. These people have been opening rides for 25+ years now at UO. It is insane that they put guests through such terrible experiences because they can’t figure out how to properly schedule a ride opening. Really is brutal. I feel bad for the people still in that queue. They’re better off leaving.

No park i know opens up rides that don't go through these issues. None. Plus the bigger you are the harder you fall.

 

[RE133]

Does anyone have any estimates about capacity or how many trains they are running? I tried watching some clips on Youtube to see how quickly trains were being dispatched, but it's hard to tell.

I'm assuming the most they could possibly get is about 1,680/hour, which is alright but not great. That's assuming they get every seat filled and are able to dispatch a train consistently every 30 seconds. And 30 seconds seems optimistic.

 

[Latveria]

No park i know opens up rides that don't go through these issues. None. Plus the bigger you are the harder you fall.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

“I need to be first but I’m also going to be mad if the brand new ride breaks down while I’m in line for 14 hours, wahh!” - please just stop, you knew exactly what you signed up for.

Honestly this ride is performing way more consistently than I initially imagined it would.

 

[TommyJK]

I think the ride is awesome, at least from what I saw.

The way the park handled today is absolutely horrible. God awful. Plenty of people are wasting their entire day stuck in a queue just to eventually get on a ride that doesn’t work.

Every year we keep feeling sorry for them and saying things like “new rides have kinks to work out” and things like that.

Enough is enough. These people have been opening rides for 25+ years now at UO. It is insane that they put guests through such terrible experiences because they can’t figure out how to properly schedule a ride opening. Really is brutal. I feel bad for the people still in that queue. They’re better off leaving.

I think it comes down to communication from Universal to the park goers this morning. If the park employees were up front with everyone this morning and said "Hi all, there's technical issues right now and the ride won't start for a couple of hours after the park opens, and may go down throughout the day" then I put the onus on the guests to decide if they still want to queue up and take the risk they'll be waiting hours, and my not get to ride at all. They've been warned and decided to wait anyway.

If Universal said nothing and remained tight lipped about late start and potential down-time then I would say Universal is to blame for park goer misery.

 

[devinp267]

“I need to be first but I’m also going to be mad if the brand new ride breaks down while I’m in line for 14 hours, wahh!” - please just stop, you knew exactly what you signed up for.

Honestly this ride is performing way more consistently than I initially imagined it would.

That's why im at home in my bed enjoying from a distance. Like come on this is nothing new, people are just getting overly emotional because it really is that stellar, and i understand that totally, but be realistic.